It is the evening of November 19, 2010 and we are at the annual awards dinner of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, this year held at the Arts and Letters Club on Elm Street in Toronto.
SaveTheBalaFalls.com is being honoured with the prestigious Margaret and Nicholas Hill Cultural Heritage Landscape Award which “recognizes individuals or groups and their projects that have led to a heightened level of awareness and appreciation of Ontario’s significant landscapes.”
Present to receive the award are Ruth-Ellen Nishikawa, Mark Gidley, Linda Jackson-Hutton, Tom Millar, Patricia Gidley, and Brad Burgess.
It was a very classy evening.
The presentation noted that we have:
- Suggested an alternative location for the proposed power plant
- Prepared extensive technical documents
- Lobbied all levels of government
- Created a vigorous education programme
- Made it a major municipal election campaign issue in Muskoka
Brad Burgess accepted the award on behalf of SaveTheBalaFalls.com
The awards dinner program noted:
Save the Bala Falls, a West Muskoka community group with a deep understanding of the area, was formed three years ago to protect the falls and adjacent town where a new hydroelectric project is slated to be built. The group contends the project would drastically alter both the landscape and the historical use of Bala Falls.
Bala is a small town and virtually the entire local economy is based on tourism – visitors who are drawn to its natural beauty, accessible water, and small town charm. The falls are its most distinctive feature, and the primary reason people visit the area. The proposed hydroelectric project would channel almost all water away from the falls, and eliminate most of the publicly accessible shoreline, destroying not only the landscape, but the town’s economy.
Save the Bala falls has suggested an alternative location for the power plant, prepared extensive technical documents, lobbied all levels of government, and undertaken a vigorous education program that has made protecting the falls for future generations a topic of widespread interest and discussion throughout the district and as far south as Barrie. It’s advocacy put heritage – both natural and manmade – front and center as a major campaign issue throughout Muskoka.
An award was also presented to the Honourable Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, MPP Steve Peters, for his efforts to protect the dignity of the views of the Legislative Assembly building in Queen’s Park in Toronto.
It was a fine evening.
The award.
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